Jamil Hasanli: The defence appeals are not fulfilled

Baku/20.05.21/Turan: Another trial of the participants of the demonstration in support of Karabakh and the army, held on 14 July 2020 in the Baku Court of Appeal, was held on 19 May chaired by the Chairman of the Sabail District Court.

Jamil Hasanli, chairman of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NDF), on his Facebook page, regards the demonstration in support of the army as a "trap" against opposition forces.

In his view, the aim was to arrest and thereby isolate the Popular Front leadership and activists under the pretext of a "coup attempt" and to declare the Popular Front Party illegitimate, Hasanli writes.

The oppositionists have not fallen into this trap, the scenario has failed, the National Council chairman said.

According to him, the prosecution failed to prove a single demonstrable fact of political activists " breaking into" the Milli Majlis and damaging police cars.

He said that the resulting charges had been reclassified as intentional destruction or damage to property, organisation of acts resulting in a breach of public order and use of violence against a public official.

He also notes that the prosecution does not accept the application of the defence to clarify the circumstances.

Hasanli says that in this trial will be repeated the example of Said Bakouvi, who shortly before was arrested for 3 years. At the end of the current trial, 5-6 people from the Popular Front leadership will be sentenced to various sentences.

We should recall that out of the 37 defendants involved in the trial, 16 are activists of the PFP, 2 of them are activists of the Muslim Unity Movement, and 1 of them from Movement for Democracy and Prosperity of Azerbaijan. Of the 16 frontrunners involved in the trial, up to half are well-known individuals represented in the party leadership and various branches of the organization. -05D-